On Feb. 1, Governor Pat McCrory and North Carolina Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced that InVue Security Products Inc., a security firm focusing on retail theft, will expand its global headquarters in Charlotte. The N.C. Department of Commerce’s Uconda Dunn was the developer on this project. The company plans to create 70 jobs in North Carolina by the end of 2017 and invest $750,000 into its Mecklenburg County location. The project was made possible in part by an award from …
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10 NC Checkpoints for African American History and Heritage
RALEIGH, N.C. — While the spotlight is trained on Black History Month, plan a visit to one of these intriguing North Carolina sites that reflect African American history and heritage. Harriet Jacobs Trail Edenton Harriet Jacobs, born in Edenton, escaped slavery and wrote one of the first narratives about the struggle for freedom by female slaves in the plantation South. To commemorate the bicentennial of her birth, her memoir, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” will be used …
Wednesday Open Line
On this date in 1899, the Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris, concluding the Spanish-American War of 1898. The treaty, negotiated in Paris the previous December, was opposed by 27 senators; not opposed to peace, but to the overseas territorial acquisitions. Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and — for a few years before independence — Cuba to the United States, along with selling the Philippines for $20 million. The Philippines became independent after World War II, but Puerto Rico and …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes From The Peanut Gallery (VC BOC February 4th, 2013)
The bench in the Peanut Gallery is hard especially during a near marathon Commissioners’ meeting. Last night’s meeting started normally at 6 o’clock ending some three hours later, too late to find a downtown restaurant open serving dinner with an adult type beverage. A long productive meeting filled with some surprises, some fore gone conclusions, and the new use of a common word. Veteran Affairs Recognition The meeting opened with the NC Division of Veteran Affairs recognizing Ms. Sandra Grissom’s …
Voting Now Open for Northern Vance High School Engineering Team’s Project
Vance County Schools Career And Technical Education Department To Host Business RoundtableVoting has begun for the Northern Vance High School Sirocco Innovative Computer Cleaner project on the N.C. State Institute for Emerging Issues website. To assist you in navigating through the website to cast your vote for the Northern Vance Engineering Team and its Sirocco project, please do the following: Please go to www.ncsu.edu/iei to vote. Once on the website homepage, please click on “Engage” (at top of page) and …
Vance County Schools Career And Technical Education Department To Host Business Roundtable (POSTPONED)
Attention: Update February 5th, 2013: The Business Roundtable that was scheduled for this Thursday, February 7, has been postponed to a later time. We will let you know when that is re-scheduled. The Vance County Schools Career and Technical Education Department is hosting the February Chamber of Commerce Business Roundtable. The informative session, which will focus on the Students@Work Initiative, will be facilitated by Willa Clark, Career and Technical Education Director. The session will be held beginning at noon on …
VGCC invites Earth Day participants
Vance-Granville Community College’s eighth annual Earth Day festival is scheduled to be held on Monday, April 22, and organizers are inviting members of the community to participate. The 2013 Earth Day celebration is set to take place outside on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County on April 22, from 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. In case of rain, the event will be moved into the VGCC Civic Center. Each year, the event seeks to educate the college and community …
NCDA&CS to hold listening session on FDA’s proposed produce safety rule Feb. 20 in Raleigh
RALEIGH — Produce farmers and packers can learn more about the federal government’s proposed produce safety rule at a listening session Feb. 20 at the State Fairgrounds. Individuals also will have the opportunity to ask questions during the session, which will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Scott Building. “The produce safety rule could mean big changes for produce farmers and packers, so it’s critical that they learn everything they can about it,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve …
Tuesday Open Line
February is American Heart Month, dedicated to the serious matter of monitoring and taking care of our beating hearts. This is important because while heart disease has claimed fewer lives in recent years, it is still the nation’s number one killer — responsible for 616,000 deaths annually. However, almost as if to prove that no good intention goes unpunished, February is also National Snack Food Month. And America truly “hearts” its snack foods. In spite of the recent disappearance of …
Butterfield Opposes General Assembly’s Plan to Cripple Health Reform in North Carolina
WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) today released the following statement regarding plans by state Republican lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly to block implementing critical provisions of the Affordable Care Act: “It is deeply disappointing that Republican state lawmakers have taken steps to block the expansion of Medicaid coverage to 650,000 uninsured low-income residents. These are poor children, older adults, and the disabled that they seek to deny. The provisions of the Affordable Care Act …
NC Cooperative Extension Updates from Paul McKenzie
KERR/TAR BEEKEEPERS Come and join this great group every 2nd Monday, 7 pm at the Vance County Extension Center. All are welcome! SMALL FARM ENTERPRISE SCHOOL IN OXFORD Monday is the last day to register for this multi-class series which begins on 2/5. You will learn about various small-scale enterprises, and also create a business plan step-by-step. To register, call 919-603-1350. FRUIT TREE PRUNING WORKSHOP Learn how to properly prune your backyard fruit crops. Tues Feb 5, 10:30 am. From …
Senator Richard Burr Message
Since the beginning of the 113th Congress, several topics have dominated the conversation both nationally and in Washington. After passage of the fiscal cliff deal on January 1, we now must focus on a longer-term fix to our nation’s economic issues. It has been more than three years since the Majority Leader even put a budget on the Senate floor, let alone allowed the Senate to act on and pass one. This is inexcusable. Last week, I signed on …
Automotive Sector Manufacturer KSM Castings Chooses N.C. for First U.S. Facility
RALEIGH – Governor Pat McCrory and North Carolina Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced that KSM Castings NC Inc., a producer of light metal casting products for use in the automotive industry, will establish its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Shelby. The project was made possible in part by performance-based awards from the state’s Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program and One North Carolina Fund. The company plans to create 189 jobs in North Carolina by the end of 2018 and …
NCVPS Teacher Finalist for National Online Teacher of the Year
North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) English teacher Jennifer (Jen) Currin is one of three finalists for the 2013 National Online Teacher of the Year Award. The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) sponsor the award, which recognizes exceptional quality in online K-12 education. State Superintendent June Atkinson commended Currin on being named a finalist saying that her instructional style helps students who have struggled academically achieve success. “Jen modifies her instruction …
VGCC Psychology instructor offers seminars on Dreams
Peter Metzner, a Psychology instructor at Vance-Granville Community College, will offer a free seminar about understanding dreams, and the public is invited.In the “Dream Circles” seminar, Metzner will facilitate a discussion in which participants will learn how to better understand and work with their own dreams and each others’. This seminar is scheduled to be offered twice: on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. and on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. On both dates, the location is room 6116 …
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers: This Week in the Second District
It was great to be home in the 2nd District this week. I was able to connect with constituents across the district including those I met at a meeting of WakeMed’s Health Career Pathfinders and an Agribusiness breakfast in Raleigh, a meeting with town officials in Robbins, and during a tour of the LORD Corporation in Cary. Below you will find an update on the Keystone XL Pipeline, including a bipartisan letter I signed onto with 145 fellow Members of …
USED Report: NC is Ahead in the Race to the Top
Innovation in support for teachers and struggling schools, along with the infusion of new technology are among the reasons North Carolina is at the head of the pack at the halfway point of its Race to the Top initiative, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Education today. The four-year, $400 million Race to the Top grant, awarded in summer 2010, has entered its third year. North Carolina is one of 11 states, along with the District …
White House Weekly Address: A Balanced Approach to Growing the Economy in 2013
In this week’s address, President Obama calls on Congress to work together on a balanced approach to reduce our deficit and promote economic growth and job creation. This week, the President announced his choice for his new Chief of Staff, pushed for comprehensive immigration reform, and invited the Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year, Presidential Innovation Fellows, law enforcement officials, 60 Minutes, and the Miami Heat to the White House.
Monday Open Line
Adding poignancy to Black History Month, today marks the centennial of the birth of Rosa Parks, a shy woman who became a symbol of the fight for civil equality. Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man. This sparked a boycott of the bus system by blacks, which greatly energized the ultimately successful civil rights movement. During her life, Rosa Parks championed the cause of increased opportunities for youth. …
Larry Elman: Unemployment Editorial
In answer to Friday’s The Daily Dispatch editorial on unemployment (2/1/2013): I do not know NC law because I moved here after retirement, but in most States during most of my life there have been two rules which totally eliminate your comments, as well as those of John Hood of the John Locke Society last week. First, most States required persons on unemployment to be able to show consistent job-search efforts, and those efforts were frequently checked. Second, in …